• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.31 no.6C
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• pp.251-258
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• 2011

Steel pipe piles have been used as various deep foundation materials for a long time. Recent increase in steel material cost has made engineers reluctant in using it even with its good quality and ease of construction. Therefore when constructing with steel pipe pile, the decision to reuse the excessive pile length that is cut off from the designed pile head elevation after pile driving can be cost saving. This has caused many constructors to reuse the pile leftovers with new piles, but the absence of quantitative structural capacity behaviors of steel pipe pile after pile driving or appropriate countermeasures and standards in reusing steel pipe pile has resulted in wrong applications, pile structural integrity problems, inappropriate limitation of reusable pile length, etc. The structural performance analysis between a new pile and a pile that has undergone working state and ultimate state stress level during pile driving was performed in this research by means of comparing the results between the dynamic pile load test, tensile load test, charpy energy test and fatigue test for high strength steel of $440N/mm^2$ yield strength. Test results show that under working load conditions the yield strength variation is less than 2% and for ultimate load conditions the variation is less than 5% for maximum total blow count of 3000. The results have been statistically analyzed to check the sensitivity of each factors involved. From the test results, reusability of steel pipe pile lies not in the main pipe yield strength deviation but in the reduction of absorb energy, strength changes and quality control at the welded section, shape deformation and local buckling during pile driving.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.441-447
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• 2011

The study aim is to investigate the free radicals scavenging and spermatogenic potentials, as well as to analyze any reproductive toxicity of ethanolic extract of Mucuna prureins (M. pruriens) Linn. in spermatozoa, under different dosages in normal male rat. Normal rats were randomly selected and suspension of the extract was administered orally at the dosages of 150, 200 and 250 mg/kg body weight of the different groups of male rats (n=6) once in a day for 60 days and grouped as group II, III and IV respectively. Saline treated rats served as control -group I. On the $60^{th}$ day the animals were sacrificed and the epididymal sperm were subjected to various analyses like level of ROS production, LPO, enzymatic and non enzymatic antioxidant, morphology, morphometry, chromosomal integrity and DNA damage. Results showed significant reduction in ROS production and peroxidation and significant increase in both enzymic and non-enzymic antioxidants in all concentration treated groups when compared with control. Results from all the drug treated groups showed good sperm morphology, increased sperm count and motility. There was no DNA damage and showed normal chromosomal integrity even in 250 mg/kg dose. When compared with control all the three extract treated groups showed increased ROS scavenging activity. However, group II (200 mg/kg) showed significant changes in all the parameters. From the present study it was confirmed that the M. pruriens has potential to improve the sperm qualitatively and quantitatively through scavenging the excess ROS with any adverse side effects. These observations suggest that ethanolic seed extract of M. pruriens may serve as anti-oxidant that can exploit to treat the oxidative stress mediated male factor infertility.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.260-272
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• 2010

This study examined how the participation rates contribute to subjects' outcomes after a nutrition education (once/week) and exercise (3 times/week) intervention program for 12 weeks in 44 obese female subjects. The subjects were divided into two groups: high-participator (HP) or low-participator (LP) groups according to their participation levels based on the median visit value (30 visits out of a total of 48 visits). Daily nutrient intakes assessed by a 24-hour recall, body composition, blood lipid profiles and physical fitness were measured at baseline and after 12 weeks. After the intervention, weight, BMI, percent body fat, and the waist-hip ratio were significantly decreased in the HP group. In addition, the HP group had a greater rates of changes in weight (HP group: -6.6% and LP group: -3.1%, p < 0.01), BMI (-7.0% and -3.2%, p < 0.01), percent body fat (-7.8% and -4.2%, p < 0.05), and waist-hip ratio (-3.1% and -0.4%, p < 0.01) compared to the LP group. Energy-adjusted protein, fiber, potassium, vitamin $B_1$, vitamin $B_6$, and vitamin C were significantly increased in the HP group. The HP group showed a significant increase in HDLcholesterol and a decrease in blood pressure, total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, triglycerides, and atherogenic index (AI). While the muscle endurance, muscle strength, power, agility and flexibility were significantly increased in the HP group, agility and balance were improved in the LP group. In addition, dietary behavior score was significantly increased and stress score decreased in the HP group compared to the LP group. High participation rates were correlated with the improvement of the nutrient density (protein, fiber, potassium, Vitamin $B_1$, Vitamin $B_2$, Vitamin $B_6$ and folate), anthropometric parameters (body weight, BMI and percent body fat), serum lipid profiles (HDL-cholesterol, Triglyceride, and AI) and physical fitness (muscle endurance) adjusted for age, menopausal status, alcohol drinking, nutritional supplement use and baseline BMI. Our results suggest that high participation in nutrition education and exercise program was effective not only for weight reduction but also for the improvement of physical fitness in obese women.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.139-144
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• 2002

Sterols play two major roles in plants: a bulk component in biological membranes and precursors of plant steroid hormones. Physiological effects of plant steroids, brassinosteroids (BRs), include cell elongation, cell division, stress tolerance, and senescence acceleration. Arabidopsis mutants that carry genetic defects in BR biosynthesis or its signaling display characteristic phenotypes, such as short robust inflorescences, dark-green round leaves, and sterility. Currently there are more than 100 dwarf mutants representing 7 genetic loci in Arabidopsis. Mutants of 6 loci, dwf1/dim1/cbb1, cpd/dwf3, dwf4, dwf5, det2/dwf6, dwf7 are rescued by exogenous application of BRs, whereas bri1/dwf2 shares phenotypes with the above 6 loci but are resistant to BRs. These suggest that the 6 loci are defective in BR biosynthesis, and the one locus is in BR signaling. Biochemical analyses, such as intermediate feeding tests, examining the levels of endogenous BR, and molecular cloning of the genes revealed that dwf7, dwf5, and dwf1 are defective in the three consecutive steps of sterol biosynthesis, from episterol to campesterol via 5-dehydroepisterol. Similarly, det2/dwf6, dwf4, and cpd /dwf3 were shown to be blocked in D$^4$reduction, 22a-hydroxylation, and 23 a-hydroxylation, respectively. A signaling mutant bril/dwf2 carries mutations in a Leucine-rich repeat receptor kinase. Interestingly, the bri1 mutant was shown to accumulate significant amount of BRs, suggesting that signaling and biosynthesis are dynamically coupled in Arabidopsis. Thus it is likely that transgenic plants over-expressing the rate-limiting step enzyme DWF4 as well as blocking its use by BRIl could dramatically increase the biosynthetic yield of BRs. When applied industrially, BRs will boost new sector of plant biotechnology because of its potential use as a precursor of human steroid hormones, a novel lead compound for cholesterol-lowering effects, and a various application in plant protection.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.47-57
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• 2008

Physiological and biochemical changes of five species of genus Quercus exposed to ozone fumigation were investigated to assess their tolerance against ozone toxicity. At the end of 150 ppb ozone fumigation, chlorophyll contents, photosynthetic characteristics, malondialdehyde(MDA) and antioxidative enzyme activities were measured in the leaves of five Quercus species(Quercus acutissima, Q. aliena, Q. palustris, Q. serrata, and Q. variabilis). Chlorophyll and carotenoid contents, net photosynthesis and carboxylation efficiency decreased after ozone treatment, indicating that $O_3$-exposed plants underwent physiological inhibition. The reduction rate of total chlorophyll contents and carboxylation efficiency were respectively 15% and 34% for Q. aliena and 38% and 62% for Q. variabilis. The amount of MDA increased with the highest increase rate of 140% in Q. acutissima which also showed the highest increase rate(60%) of superoxide dismutase(SOD). Ascorbate peroxidase(APX) activity increased in Q. variabilis, Q. serrata and Q. acutissima by ozone treatment. Based on our results, ozone tolerance of the five Quercus species was ranked as Q. aliena>Q. palustris>Q. serrata>Q. variabilis>Q. acutissima. We concluded that chlorophyll contents, photosynthesis, MDA content and antioxidative enzymes were the important physiological markers for tolerance against ozone stress, which were closely related with one another.

• Journal of Korean Society of Transportation
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.41-49
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• 2003

Marine traffic management could be defined as the implementation of managerial technical measures to improve vessel traffic safety. The managerial elements of vessel traffic management for ports and harbours or narrow channels include the total amount of traffic control, the vessel traffic separation scheme, speed restriction, traffic control by signals, the navigation information service and so forth. This research aims to quantify how much the traffic separation schemes(TSS) contribute to the alleviation effect of ship handling difficulty and to propose a design standard when the individual management measure is applied in an actual waterway. Traffic separation schemes have now been established in most of the major routes and congested waters of the world, and the number of collisions and groundings have often been dramatically reduced. In this part, the relationship between the alleviation of ship handling difficulty and the reduction of encounter figures among ships is quantitatively clarified by applying the ES model. As results of simulation analysis, it is recognized that a traffic separation system is most effective in the case of narrow width and heavy traffic volume. The centre buoy installation reduces about 1/4 of the alleviation of ship handling difficulty, TSS establishment 1/3, and design change to one-way traffic from two-way traffic reduces 1/2.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.285-290
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• 2016

The purpose of our study was to retrospectively evaluate the cause of a decreased calcium score of follow-up studies on coronary artery calcium scores (CACs) computed tomography (CT). The subjects were healthy 100 people(85 males $60.6{\pm}6.9$ years, 15 females $67.2{\pm}7.3$ years). The subjects decreased CACs were divided into 4 subgroups depending on Agatston classification, minimal (1-10), mild (11-100), moderate (101-400), severe (400<). As a result of decreased CACs were scan location disagreement 51%, motion artifact 26%, equipment changes 14%, operator mistakes 5%, input miss 2%, image loss 1%, arrhythmia 1%. In the mild group, the most common decreased CACs were 49 people. In the minimal group, the most significant variation reduction has occurred to 6 people. Scan location disagreement was considered a partial volume effects due to the scan starting position. It showed less than 100 CACs a high variation (19.7%) in more than 100 CACs, a lower variation (2.2%), these could be seen that the variation range is different that can be tolerated according to the calcification score. Motion artifact factor was found in 26%, which is so closely related to the preceding tests that affect the higher heart rate like this pulmonary function test, exercise stress test.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.43-52
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• 2013

Zearalenone (ZEN) is a non-steroidal estrogenic mycotoxin produced by several species of Fusarium that are found in cereals and agricultural products. ZEN has been implicated in mycotoxicosis in farm animals and in humans. The toxic effects of ZEN are well known, but the ability of an alkaline Comet assay to assess ZEN-induced oxidative DNA damage in Chang liver cells has not been established. The first aim of this study was to evaluate the Comet assay for the determination of cytotoxicity and extent of DNA damage induced by ZEN toxin, and the second aim was to investigate the ability of N-acetylcysteine amide (NACA) to protect cells from ZEN-induced toxicity. In the Comet assay, DNA damage was assessed by quantifying the tail extent moment (TEM; arbitrary unit) and tail length (TL; arbitrary unit), which are used as indicators of DNA strand breaks in SCGE. The cytotoxic effects of ZEN in Chang liver cells were mediated by inhibition of cell proliferation and induction of oxidative DNA damage. Increasing the concentration of ZEN increased the extent of DNA damage. The extent of DNA migration, and percentage of cells with tails were significantly increased in a concentration-dependent manner following treatment with ZEN toxin (p < 0.05). Treatment with a low concentration of ZEN toxin (25 ${\mu}M$) induced a relatively low level of DNA damage, compared to treatment of cells with a high concentration of ZEN toxin (250 ${\mu}M$). Oxidative DNA damage appeared to be a key determinant of ZEN-induced toxicity in Chang liver cells. Significant reductions in cytolethality and oxidative DNA damage were observed when cells were pretreated with NACA prior to exposure to any concentration of ZEN. Our data suggest that ZEN induces DNA damage in Chang liver cells, and that the antioxidant activity of NACA may contribute to the reduction of ZEN-induced DNA damage and cytotoxicity via elimination of oxidative stress.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.17-26
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• 1979

Comparative tolerance of the new rice varieties from Indicax Japonica cross to elastic and plastic chilling injuries was examined at the 3rd leaf-stage, the most sensitive stage to chilling during nursery, using a chilling chamber set 11\circ C, 13hrs. 20K lux day/5$^{\circ}C$ night. Seedlings were reared until 35 days after seeding in a 26\circ C, 13hrs. day / 18\circ C night chamber except the period of chilling treatment for 0, 3, 4, 6, 8 or 10 days. The new varieties were approximately twice susceptible to elastic injuries, and thrice susceptible to plastic injuries than the Japonica varieties in the term of chilling duration. Among the variables indicating apparant chilling injuries the reduction in dry matter responded most sensitively and differentiated well the varietal difference in chilling resistance even with shorter chilling period. Sequential aspects of the cause and effect relations involved in the development of the apparant chilling injuries are discussed and a schematic diagram is presented as Fig. 5 in the text.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.49-59
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• 2014

Rainfall-induced landslides are caused by reduction of effective stress and shear strength due to rainfall infiltration. In order to analyze the susceptibility of landslides, the statistical analysis approach has been used widely but this approach has the limitation which cannot take into account of landslide triggering mechanism. Therefore, the physically based model which can consider the process of landslide occurrence was proposed and commonly used. However, the most previous physically based model analyses evaluate and consider the strength characteristics for saturated soil only in the susceptibility analysis. But the strength parameters for unsaturated soil such as matric suction should be considered with the strength parameters for saturated soil since the shear strength in unsaturated soil also plays important role in the stability of slope. Consequently this study suggested the modified physically based slope model which can evaluate strength characteristics for both of saturated and unsaturated soils. In addition, this study evaluated the thickness of saturated part in slope with rainfall intensity and hydraulic characteristics of slope on the basis of physically based model. In order to evaluate the feasibility, the proposed model was applied to practical example in Jinbu area, Gangwon-do, which was experienced large amount of landslides in July 2006. The ROC graph analysis was used to evaluate the validation of the model, and the analysis results were compared with the results of the previous analysis approach.